(Left to right) Brothers George Maloof, Gavin Maloof and Joe Maloof watch a preseason game between the Sacramento Kings and the Lakers at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. GETTY IMAGES

The four brothers are each bachelors — wealthy bachelors — who hang with Hef, fulfill fantasies and sell good times, all the while having good times themselves.

The sister is the one who's married, hitched to a plastic surgeon, and currently starring on a reality television show about rich housewives.

So the first question couldn't be more obvious:

How come the Maloofs didn't move their NBA team to Anaheim years ago? This family is as Southern California as the surf, as Orange County as a Botox injection.

Should the Sacramento Kings relocate to Honda Center — a move that could come as early as next season — the players might arrive on skateboards, another Maloof business interest of local interest.

And did we mention that the family's kingdom floats on a head of beer? Don't know about you, but we're warming to this group quickly.

Yet, if you're like us, you probably don't know a lot about the Maloofs. Well, that changes today as we present a brief, idiot's guide to the family that soon could be calling O.C. home and asking us to call the Kings our own.

To begin, who precisely are the Maloofs? They are a starting five of siblings, four boys — Joe, 55; Gavin, 54; George Jr., 46; and Phil, 43 — and one girl — Adrienne, 49. Their mother is Colleen. Their father, George Sr., died in 1980 at 57 after a heart attack.

Their empire began in Las Vegas, but not that Las Vegas. The kids' grandfather, Joe Sr., opened a general store in Las Vegas, N.M., more than a century ago. He later acquired a Coors distributorship.

George Sr. eventually took over and expanded the beer shipping business, while buying into hotels in New Mexico and Arizona.

His two oldest boys — that would be Joe and Gavin — learned early that Dad's growing fortune would be theirs only if they earned it. By age 10, they were loading trucks, sweeping floors and mopping spills.

Asked a few months ago about how tough their dad was on them, Gavin explained: "Well, my father used to say, 'I'm not going to leave you anything. You're going to have to work for it. If you don't work for it, I'll leave it all to charity.' So we did."

The Kings aren't the first NBA team in the Maloof family. George Sr. bought the Houston Rockets in 1979. Following his death, however, there was a push to dump the team, a decision that, well, we'll let Colleen tell the story.

"When we sold the Houston Rockets (in 1982), so help me, I never watched an NBA game until we bought the Kings — 15 years later," she told the Sacramento Bee. "I never saw (Michael) Jordan play. I didn't read about it, didn't want to hear about it. I was in mourning. I knew it was a major mistake the minute we signed the papers.

"We tried to buy the team right back. But it was right after my husband died, and my brother-in-law and other relatives wanted it sold. They wanted to keep everything in New Mexico. I wouldn't have listened to that today ... It was heartbreaking."

Before their return to the NBA, the Maloofs jumped into gambling, and, like we said, we're warming to this bunch. They opened a casino in Colorado and, in 1994, with an investment of $10 million, built the Fiesta Casino Hotel in Nevada.

Six years and two massive renovations later, they sold the Fiesta for... $185 million. They reinvested that into The Palms — the family's most famous holding — which opened in 2001, jutting into the sky, just off the Las Vegas Strip.

For the casino's grand opening, George Jr., who runs The Palms, brought a date. Paris Hilton.

The name of the place was going to be The Breeze. One day, George Jr. mentioned this fact to his sister. Adrienne thought for a second and asked him, "Wasn't that some type of female product?" So "The Palms" it was.

The hotel has a suite with a basketball court, a suite with two bowling lanes and a suite designed by Hugh Hefner. That's the one that goes for $40,000 a night and includes a stripper pole in the shower.

The floor in the basketball suite is only about the size of a half-court. But it does have its own locker room and, yes, if you want them, the Maloofs will provide cheerleaders. Seriously.

The Palms also houses a recording studio and the family's corporate offices, from which they operate Maloof Productions, which develops and produces film and TV projects, and Maloof Music.

The family is one of the largest shareholders in Wells Fargo Bank, has been decorated for its philanthropy and runs the Maloof Money Cup, the world's biggest skateboarding event that includes a stop in Orange County.

An estimated 3,000 people work for the Maloof Companies, and none is ever far removed from the bosses.

"Oh yes, we all are hands-on," Phil, a former state senator in New Mexico, once said. "I think we are pretty tough to work for. But we respect our employees just like we respect the customer."

And they are wildly popular, hanging at various times with the likes of Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and The Black Eyed Peas.

The family name is mentioned in the song "I'm Blooded" by Lil' Wayne. They've also appeared in videos by David Banner, Ludacris and Katy Perry. Adrienne currently is on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."

Other than that, the Maloofs aren't that much different than the rest of us here in Orange County.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.